La Petite Morte or
by ranlynn
Summary: No New Chapter. Just complying with FF.Net's new no story notes as stand alone chapter policy.
1. Default Chapter

La Petite Morte or A Little Death

By ranlynn ( **randeedoo@yahoo.com** )

5-18-2002

Rating: PG13/may change (let me know it you don't agree)

Dislaimer: I own nothing and nothing owns me. Just heart felt thanks to the creators of two incredible worlds.

Summary: Crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton (if you haven't read any of these you ought to give them a try) Yes I suck at summaries. Just read the story.

Spoilers:

**BTVS: **Set a couple or so months after S6 Entropy and will follow cannon up till then, with some minor revisions (Buffy's hair is long 'cause I like it that way and she is in a good place mentally and emotionally) after that it depends (Tara's alive because...well because, and there was **NO** B/S bathroom scene *the writers were sniffing glue that day*) and I will borrow elements thru the season finale. 

**Anita Blake**:up thru "Narcissus In Chains". 

Notes: Told in the first person, the POV will switch back and forth between Anita and Buffy. The first two chapters POV's will overlap a quite bit and so might some others. I've also made the two types of vampire's strength about the same based on how vamps have been portrayed on Angel the Series and how he (Angel) said Buffy was stronger than he was. I'm also making her resistant to the mental abilities of LKH vampires seeing she broke the mind control of the Master and Dracula. They might be able to _*mind roll*_ her but they'll have to sweat for it and it won't happen casually. (would they be able to put the whammy on her before she can stake them??)

First chp: I know very little about police procedure or crime scene investigation so bear with me. I also do not have a beta reader so any grammar or spelling errors are also something to live with. Though I will try to keep them to a minimum. 

Reviews: Email: **randeedoo@yahoo.com**   Please let me know what you think. I have written a handful of short fics but this is my first longer story.


	2. La Petite MorteChp 1 anita

"_La Petite Morte_"

Or "a little death"

By ranlynn

Chapter 1 (Anita)

"My feet hurt"

La Petite Morte, St. Louis's newest and most exclusive restaurant. It's the grand opening and this *by invitation only* event had attracted the interest of local politicians, celebrities and the press. All of whom were eager to curry the favor of, interview or simply to rub shoulders with the *Master of the City* and his human girl friend. Just the sort of people I like to hang with, yeah right.

Most of them are just using this opportunity to get a closer look at us, because you can be sure they wouldn't be caught dead at the strip clubs. 

This is the latest of Jean-Claude's business ventures and, despite the name (for those individuals familiar with Jean-Claude and French euphemisms) it is the most mainstream of all of them. Glossy hardwood on the floors artfully shaped black iron and rich burgundy leather for the chairs and tables surrounding a dance area with a temporary stage about 2 to 3 feet high set up for live music. Heavy satin of forest green drape secluded booths and private dining rooms set further back of the main room. Waiters and waitresses in black trousers paired with stark white dress shirts and thin black ties move discreetly about. And the best chef this side the Atlantic is living up to his reputation. Good food and good music in relaxing and elegant surroundings.

And despite nosy reporters, social climbers _and _social snobs, the tasteful music and the food (I'm gonna be living off salads for the next few weeks after indulging Jean-Claude's taste for rich pastries), despite all this there is just one thing I have been dwelling on for the last 30 minutes.

"My feet hurt", I grumble for the second time.

Earlier today Jason had arrived at my house with a package from Jean-Claude that had contained both an outfit for me, and a tux for Micah. We knew about the tux but I already owned a dress that I had planned on wearing tonight. But it wasn't new and with the simple note that said, _"Please",_ I thought what the hell, he doesn't say please that often.

So here I am. The bustiea under the strapless black crepe is bad enough (he had, _ever_ so kindly, included matching underwear), damn thing pinches, but the length meant I needed to wear the 3-inch heeled matching pumps. But at least Jean-Claude knows me well enough to make sure that with the cut and flare to the skirt I could wear the belly-band holster with the Firestar 9mm.  It might take me longer than I'd like to get at it, and I'd probably flash the room, but hey I'm armed. Man it's tough being a girl.

"Would you just go barrow a cleaver from the chef and cut them off", I_am_not_whining. Really.

"You did not have to wear the dress you know"

Turning I snap "I know I didn't Micah"

Yeah, I know I'm not being fair but, damn it, I'm starting to loose the feeling in my toes.

Micah damn him, just chuckles at me. Micah Callahan about my height, rare in a man, dark eyes, dark curly hair with a face and body of a slender, delicate build. Deceptive when you weren't familiar with the muscle hidden beneath the classic black tux, or aware of the fact that he's a were-leopard, Nimir-raj to my Nimir-ra. My _true mate_ if, you believe in the legends of the were-leopards. We're in the "getting to know each other stage". Yeah, we're doing things kind of backwards. Sue me.

The other man in my life, better make that _One_ of the other men.  My friend Ronnie tells me I need to keep a scorecard. My love life is…. complicated.

"Relax ma Petite, it will be over soon. Most of our guests have already taken their leave" 

A voice like warm velvet sends a thrill through me and I can feel my body tighten at the memories it invokes. Turning I face the person to blame for my discomfort. No Anita, be honest with yourself, it was your choice. Damn, I really want to blame somebody.

Enter Jean-Claude, entrepreneur, master vampire, incubus, Master of the City and sometimes-royal pain in the ass, pants of black bias cut linen cling to his legs and tuck into buttery soft nubuck ankle boots, with a matching jacket and a ruffly silk shirt, and his hair falls in soft waves to his waist. All of which just serves as a frame for his pale, beautiful face and the dark midnight blue of his eyes. 

"Her feet are bothering her", says Micah with a complete lack of sympathy.

I shoot a glare in his direction then jump as I hear a crash. Looking around I see some hapless waiter has dropped a tray of wine glasses by the stage. One of Jean-Claude's people is already hurrying over with a broom and dustpan.

"Come Petite, let us say adieu to some of our quests" and, with a hand at the small of my back Jean-Claude urges me toward the lobby.

"Since when did they become _our_ gues…."

I jerk to a stop, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. There's a tingling along my bare skin and then I feel a sort of pressure in the air. Both Micah and Jean-Claude have stopped with me and are looking around suspiciously. I see some other people doing the same.

Suddenly there's an explosion of light, sun bright, then a roaring sound like a freight train and I'm knocked off my feet. I end up on my hands and knees, blinking furiously. With the rooms *mood* lighting that flash had been doubly blinding.

"ma petite" "Anita" Micah and Jean-Claude "are you alright"

Eyes clearing I look over and see that they've been knocked over to.

"oooh, I'm just peachy" I respond. Sarcasm? me? nyaah.

Then someone, a woman starts to scream.

"EEE!!! get it off, get it off,  aaahhh"  

Now what?

"Shit, help me up" and grabbing hold of my hands the boys help me to my feet. How I manage not to trip over my skirt only God knows.

Rising we look around.

We see other people struggling to their feet but we see bodies as well.

Bodies, pale, still and crumpled on the floor, the stage, even that screaming woman has one pinning her legs, desperately trying to push it off herself. Then I get a real good look and those neck hairs start standing up again. Dressed in dirty and torn street clothes, none of these bodies belong to any of the event's attendees or the restaurant employees. 

"Petite, they do not have a heartbeat" Jean-Claude whispers softly and I sigh.

"OK, no one touch anything" I call out, stepping forward. 

The screaming woman stops like someone clicked a switch and stares at my in disbelief. Bet she thinks I mean to leave her there with a corpse for a throw rug. Sorta tempting actually.

Shaking my head I send a look Micah's way and he goes over, pushes the body off her than helps her to her feet. Not even stopping to thank him, she run's from the room.

"Please, everyone, I want you to go out to the lobby_ don't_leave. Wait there for the police to arrive" then I turn to jean-Claude.

"I need to call Dolph" and he just looks at me.

"Come on, you felt it, so did Micah, hell it looked like a good portion of your guests felt it to. Magic, and you can bet someone has already called the cops and the reporters are already calling in preliminary stories. Dolph finds out I was here, and I can't see him _not_ hearing about it. If I don't call him, well….." and I trail off.

Raising one eyebrow he reaches into his jacket then hands me a cell phone.

I stare down at if for a moment then look up into his face. Jean-Claude and something so mundane as a cellular phone…. well that just kinda boggles your mind. Shaking my head I turn away and start to dial.

********* 

After making the call and then herding guests and employees out to the lobby to wait, the only people remaining in the main room are Jean-Claude, Asher, Micah, Jason and I.

"Ok campers, we're going to try not to disturb anything but we need to see if anyone of these people are alive" yeah I know, the boys should be able to hear anyone that still has a heartbeat but I need to make sure. I also want check the rest of the building.

"Jason, you take the booth area, see if any of them ended up back there" I tell him.

"Mam! Yes Mam!", he quips, snapping off a half decent salute.

"Oh shut up, go", I growl, making a shewing motion with my hand.

Grinning he moves off. I just shake my head. One of these days someone is going to thump him hard on account of that mouth of his. 

"Asher, why don't you and Micah take the kitchen and storerooms while Jean-Claude and I check out the private dining rooms" I say.

"Cherie, do you have any idea what happened", he asks, curious.

"Haven't got a clue, but whatever it was…."

"was powerful" he finishes.

Asher, Jean-Claude's second-in-command and a master vampire in his own right. He's also dressed in linen but in a shade of claret. Cutting as striking a figure as Jean-Claude but for very different reasons. Watching him and Micah walk towards the kitchens not for the first time I half wish that I didn't have some of the hang-ups that I do. But, what is it they say, "if wishes were horses" so we make do the best that we can.

"Hey! I've got a live one", shouts Jason, cutting across my thoughts.

"What…" Asher and Micah hesitate and I turn to see Jason back amongst the booths, looking at something on the floor.

I go over to him with the others following and, at Jason's feet lies a young girl. Girl? Woman? Young woman.

She's small, my height maybe a bit shorter. Long, blonde hair pulled into a scraggly ponytail and a bit on the thin side, delicate looking, dressed in a chunky white sweater, smudged with dirt and black pants that are ripped in a few places. She's maybe late teens, early twenties, not any older than Jason at least, and unconscious.

"Mom, can I keep her, huh, huh can I" from Jason.

Reaching out my hand I give him a smack on the head.

"Hey!!" and he rubs the back of his head.

"Stop being a smartass" I say, but he just grins at me.

"She looks like she's been in a fight", says Micah, going to one knee beside her.

Yeah, he's right. Her lower lip is cut and there's a matching one on her forehead and scrapes along her right cheek. Plus the knuckles of her hand look scraped and bruised.

"They all appear to have been in a fight recently" says Jean-Claude, joining us "but no injury is severe enough to be fatal. And they are cold, but the blood in the wounds has not coagulated".

Oh Joy! One more thing to worry about. Have I said yet that I hate mysteries? 

"Another question might then be then is why _she_ is alive when these others are not" suggests Asher. This just keeps getting better and better, Dolph is sure going to have fun tonight.

Taking a deep breath I let it out slowly.

"Jason, stay with the girl in case she wakes up" I tell him then turn to the others.

"Come on, let's get this done" and we move off to finish checking the building.

*********** 

I stand off to the side and watch as a pair of technicians from the medical examiners, start laying out bags next to bodies that have already been tagged for transport. It's hours later and after the police have arrived. We've got patrolmen controlling the lookie-loos outside, crime scene techs, people from the coroners' office plus a couple of paramedics for the girl, she was the only one we found alive. The CSI techs are going over the room tallying the body count, taking dust and fiber samples, measurements and photos. Like any of that'll tell them what really happened here tonight.

"Anita"

And I turn to face the man who gets to be in charge of this circus.

"Hey Dolph" I respond.

Sergeant Rudolph Storr, head of the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team or RPIT. Imagine a small mountain with legs and dark short-cropped hair and you have a good idea of what he looks like. 

"Zerbrowski and Renolds done taking statements yet" I say.

"Not yet. What do you think happened here", he asks me.

"Don't know, some kind of magic, something I've never seen or felt before or even heard of before. Powerful. But I'm not a witch, Renolds might have a working theory or know someone that can come out and do a reading or divination for you" I suggest.

Detective Tammy Renolds is a witch and perky enough to make my teeth ache. We're not buddies by any definition, she'd tried _real _hard to be my friend when we first met, it didn't take, but she should be able to get someone out to take a look. 

Turning away from the stage we see the paramedics finish securing the girl to a gurney. She still hasn't regained consciousness and they're taking her to the hospital. Following behind them is Det. Clive Perry, another one of Dolph's team, and he sends a nod our way as they pass us. He's going along in the hope that she'll wakes up soon and if not, to hear what the doctors think of her condition.

Turning back around, Dolph and I continue to watch the show.

"Why is she the only one still alive?  Could she be the one that caused all this?" I'm thinking out loud " It's a possibility but…." And I trail off.

"Your instincts are telling you no, why" from Dolph.

"Don't know why, but yeah", I say then frown, rubbing my hands along my bare arms. I've had this itchy feeling since this all started. Hope it stops soon but I assume it's a side effect from the magics that were used tonight.

We both fall silent and I focus my attention on the stage in front of us as a couple of the techs finish putting one of the bodies in a bag. One of them, a woman I've seen before but never really spoke to, is zipping it up when a hand shoots out and latches onto her throat.

Letting out a yelp of surprise I stumble back a few steps and even Dolph grunts and steps back.

I hear shouts and screams from around the room, as what we thought was a corpse sits up, then; still holding the woman, rise to its feet. Her partner rushes the thing only to get slapped down for his trouble. Then wrapping its free arm around her waist it turns to face us.

Dolph has his service revolver out and, though I don't remember doing it, I've got the Firestar out as well. Fear is a great motivator.

Male, young looking, Dolph's height but only about half as wide with dark blonde hair, thin face and blue-gray eyes, he looks at us. What the hell is this thing? Not a zombie. I'd know if it was a zombie.

"Well_well_well, what do we have here" a slight accent, vaguely familiar. 

"Let the woman go" from Dolph.

Listening to Dolph try to reason with this thing I do a quick scan of the room and my blood runs cold. All around us the *dead bodies* are rising to their feet. Cops and techs are scrambling to get clear but a few aren't fast enough and end up like the first woman. Everyone with a gun has got his or hers out and aimed at these things but the hostages make taking any action near impossible at the moment.

An even dozen, not counting *Blondie*, and like him, they are blonde and range from average to tall in height.

"Now why would I want to do that" brings my attention back to Dolph and Blondie "she's so soft and warm".

Then Blondie licks her from the base of her throat to her temple and she gives a soft whimper. Which seems to get his juices going judging by his laugh. God, I've got a really bad feeling about this.

"What do you want", asks Dolph while taking a step closer to the stage "perhaps we can come to an arrangement but first you and your…friends need to let her and the others go."

Blondie raises and eyebrow " an arrangement…. come to think of it, I _am_ feeling a bit hungry" then he smiles. Oh, Fuck!

Skin and bone slide and rearrange themselves. Brow becoming ridged, jagged fangs descend and his eyes change to a luminous yellow. And there's nothing human in those eyes. I've never seen a change so fast or smooth.

Before we can recover from the shock he tilts the tech's head to one side and sinks those fangs into her neck. With no clear line of fire all we can do is watch her eyes grow wide in pain and her mouth open on a silent scream.

He raises his head and throws her away. She lands in a boneless heap like some rag doll, skin pale, lifeless eyes fixed and staring. Part of my brain knows what just happened but another is screaming _you can't drain a human body that fast._

Then that terrible face grins and he takes a step toward us. The Firestar bucks in my hand and I hear Dolph's service revolver firing as well. Our rounds hit him, class book perfect, center-torso. Knocked back by the impact he twists to land on his hands and knees.

Time seems to stand still and I swear I've forgotten how to breathe. Then that blonde head rises to stare at us again with those inhuman eyes.

"Ouch" now crouched on his on the balls of his feet, hand rubbing at his chest, his tone of voice mocks us.

As if that had been a signal they had waited for the others like him attack. Those with hostages already just start to feed while the rest wade into the surrounding officers. Gunfire and the screams of the dying fill the room. God these things are as fast and a strong as a vampire or a lycanthrope. But silver bullets barely even slow them down. I wonder if they could be some breed of Fey but regular bullets doesn't have any more affect than silver does.

Then in a blur Blondie is at the edge of the stage and reaching down while Dolph empties his revolver into him. Grabbing Dolph's gun hand by the wrist he lifts and twists it and I hear a sharp popping sound as he breaks or dislocates Dolph's arm.

Then he's got Dolph by the throat, dangling him over the side of the stage as if he weighed no more than a child.

"Mien herr, I don't like it when people shoot me," Blondie growls then he bares his fangs and starts to pull Dolph closer.

"DOLPH!!!" I scream. My fear and anger wash over me and down through the Marks and I get an image of Jean-Claude trying to get through the crowd outside. 

Oh god, Dolph. I know I can't save him but I've got to try and I start forward when suddenly Dolph is falling and I'm scrambling back to keep from getting squashed. With Dolph no longer in my line of fire I look toward Blondie but the last thing I expect to see is him down again or the slight figure on the stage standing between us. 

What the hell….the girl?? It's the girl. What is going on here? 

She glances at Dolph and me from hazel eyes. A voice with a hint of sand in it tells us  "Run".

Then she turns back around.

"Sooo…. is this a private dance or is everybody invited" tone cocky, she's bouncing on her feet.

Blondie is on his feet and his face looks human again. Gone is the smirk and attitude and he's backing away from her. Taking their cue from him, his buddies have stopped as well, either dropping bodies and people where they stand or throwing them across the room like rag-dolls. Then they gather around him, fanning out on either side. All their attention is focused on the girl.

"Kill her", Blondie orders, eyes flashing yellow and his people start to move forward.

"Now, now guys you don't need to rush things. There's plenty of room on my dance card" that cocky almost teasing voice again. Is_she_nuts.

Then the two that are the closest to her, rush forward in a blur of speed. I hear Dolph take a sharp breath, we expect to see her go down, broken and torn like so many others tonight. The first, a male with a scar on his chin, reaches for her when she kicks him. Nothing fancy, just a forward snap kick that catches him in the gut. What happens next has my jaw dropping…. he's not only lifted off his feet by the impact but he's sent cart-wheeling head over heals to slam into the ones behind him and they go down in a heap.

Turning, she catches in her hand a fist that's rocketing towards her head. The thing has time for a look of surprise before she hits it. A series of lightning quick punches to its face ending in a side kick that sends it flying the length of the stage. Then the main group closes on her.

Dolph and I stand in shock, amazed at what we see. Kicking and punching, executing leaps and flips; it looks like she's using every fight style I've ever seen. Everything from Tai Kwon Do to jailhouse rock, and she's hurting these things like our bullets couldn't.

"Holy Moly" I snap to the right and start to bring up my gun when I see who spoke.

Zerbrowski. I let out a sigh of relief. Suit torn and bloodied, one eye already swelling closed but at least he's alive. Next to him stands Perry holding up a barely standing Renolds.

"Mon Dieu" 

To my left stand Jean-Claude and Asher, having finally gotten past the crowd. And for once I can read their every expression. Surprise, shock and amazement, welcome to the club guys. 

"To many" from Asher, his eyes fixed on the fight.

And he's right. Though it looks like she's a bit stronger and faster than they are, _whatever_ they are, she's only one person and sooner or later that's going to make a difference. A fact Blondie seems well aware of as he barks out orders to surround her. Trying to avoid their maneuverings she has retreated to the far side of the stage and does a back flip off the side.

She stumbles upon landing but recovers in time to catch a female as she tries a flying tackle. Twisting the girl sends her slamming into a support column and we can hear the dull cracking thud it makes on impact. Whipping back around she glances down, frowns and bends to pick up…..a broom?

Then she smiles. Not a little *Mona Lisa* smile, but a great big *kid in a candy store* smile.

Breaking off the brush part she the snaps the handle in half, ending up with two pieces each about 2ft long with jagged ends.

She has time to make a few practice swings with them when the female she sent flying rushes her from behind. She side steps, avoiding the charge and slams one stick deep into its chest in a quick in and out motion.

When the thing explodes in a cloud of dust I understand why she grinned. She knows how to kill these things.

"My God" Dolph in amazement. I hear the others issue exclamations of surprise and shock.

We watch as she faces the main group again still grinning. But now it's the type of grin the Wolf must have given Little Red Riding Hood. Hopping back onto the stage she advances on the once confident group. A few start to back away, fear in their yellow eyes.

"What's your hurry, don't you wanna dance" again that cocky tone and attitude. Then she attacks.

Two more are quickly reduced to clouds of dust and she moves onto the others and amid blows and kicks they are soon reduced to only seven in number.  This includes Blondie who has been standing back, watching his people become chow for a dust buster. His face may _look_ human but the rage in his eyes has nothing human in them.

Stepping forward he glares at the girl while his remaining six gather loosely around him.

"oooo…Is the Big Bad gonna join the dance now," she smirks, rocking on her feet.

"Not yet Slayer"

Slayer???

"Not tonight, but soon I'll kill you" gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Oh, Puh_leese, if I had a buck for _every time_ someone said they were going to kill me" 

Huh?? Every_time??

"I wouldn't have to work at the Double Meat Palace," she scoffs.

They had all been moving while they talked, circling so now she faced forward and their backs were toward us. We see them go tense and the girl crouches slightly, getting ready to meet the next attack, sticks still held firmly in her hands.

In a fury of motion, four of the creatures leap towards the girl, but Blondie and two others surprise me and the others and even my vampires by turning and leaping in our direction. As we flinch and duck they land on the other side and, displaying a preternatural speed, are out the doorway before we can react. Hearing screams and cries from outside Zerbowski and Perry rush out, my vampires close behind them.

Back on the stage all but one of the creatures is now dust but the girl has lost her fighting sticks. And now these last two combatants are engaged in a deadly dance. Trading kicks and punches neither of them seem to be able to get the upper hand on the other. Suddenly the girl drops under a kick, sweeping out her leg to knock his out from under him. Unprepared for the move he lands on his face. In a flash she's on him. Planting one knee firmly in his back, she grabs his head in both hands and with a wrenching cry tears it off. 

I hear Renold's give a small choke and Dolph grunts as we witness this latest act of raw strength. 

With a small thud her knees hit the floor as he turns to dust under her. Tense, twisting back and forth, she looks around for the next attack. When she realizes that Blondie and the rest are gone she takes a deep breath then exhales.

Getting to her feet, she bends at the waist and pulls a rubber band off her hair and begins to shake and fluff it. For a second Dolph and I trade puzzled looks till it dawns on us what she's doing. She's shaking creature dust out of it.

Standing straight again she looks around and sees us and the other survivors in the room staring at her.

"What??"


	3. La Petite MorteChp 2 buffy

_"La Petite Morte" _

Or "a little death"

By ranlynn

**Chapter 2 (Buffy)**

"Hold up there, I think she's coming to"

whzzat?? A voice…hmm...nice voice.

"Miss, miss can you hear me""

huh, yeah I hear you.

"Miss can you open your eyes"

you mean they aren't.

"Miss I need for you to open your eyes"

yeah, sure, just give me a minute nice voice guy.

"Miss??"

alright, any second now, there goes the left one now for the right, yup there it goes, Hi nice voice guy…_blurry_ nice voice guy.

"Hello there, I'm detective Clive Perry. How are you feeling"

feeling??

"hur..", oh, throats dry "h..hurt"

"Hurt?? Who hurt you, can you tell me?"

who?? no.. "head…hurts"

"Head… hurts, Oh! Your head hurts"

yeah, think I'll go to sleep now, g'night blurry nice voice guy.

"No, miss, please stay with us, stay awa…. What the…!!!"

Whoa!! OK OK I'm awake. Now, who's screaming?!?!

"You two, get going," says the guy with the nice voice. Looks nice to, now that he's not all blurry, kinda like Denzil Washington. Then he moves out of my line of sight, presumably to check out that screaming. Good idea, think I'll join him. I try to move and discover something is holding me still. Looking down I see that I'm strapped to a stretcher or gurney of some kind. And two guys in paramedic uniforms grab hold of either end and start to wheel me somewhere.

"Hold your horses guys. What's going on?" I say.

"You'll be ok miss, but you were unconscious for quite awhile so we're taking you to the hospital to get checked out" says one of them, short guy, kinda looks like Mickey Rooney used to. Ya know, in those old black and white movies.

"Oh no you're not. Let me up," like now guys.

"Please miss…" the other guy, tall and skinny, reminds me of Ichabod Crane. The one in the Disney cartoon not Johnny Depp.

"Look, I'm awake right," might as well try logic.

"Well yes.." from Mickey.

"And since I'm awake I have a right to refuse medical attention, right," go Buffy go.

"That's the law miss, but..", Ichabod gives it a try. Sorry bud.

"Right, we're agreed. Now, Let_Me_Up!!" and I give them my best *resolve face*. Must be a pretty good one if the speed they go about undoing buckles and straps is any indication. I think Willow would be proud of me.

Soon as I'm free I sit up and slide off the gurney. And I almost end up on the floor when my knees threaten to give way.  But then I hear more screams mixed in with gunfire. There's nothing like an old-fashioned adrenalin rush to stiffen the spine and clear your head. 

As the last of the fuzzies leave my head I become aware of that feeling I get, what Xander likes to call my *spidey sense*, that tells me that some evil nastie is near by and _this_ particular frequency is unique to just one thing…. Vampires.

Taking a look around to get my bearing I receive a shock. What the hell happened to the cemetery, I'm in some kind of building, where am I? Ok Buffy, worry about that later, time to get to work. 

Seeing injured and panicked people rushing through a doorway I run over, dodging and pushing my way past them. I try not to send any of them flying but one or two are going to have some bruises. Then I'm breaking past them and into what seems to be the main floor of a club or something and I see my playmates from the cemetery tearing into a group of cops and some other people. It's clear none of them have ever faced a Vamp before or they wouldn't be trying to shoot them. I mean it hurts like hell but generally it just pisses them off big time. 

Then I see Stryker up on a stage reach down and grab some guy that's about the size of the Incredible Hulk and lifts him up like he weighs no more than a pillow. I'm already moving as I hear the pop, snap of the big guy's arm as it's either broken or dislocated. Then as Stryker gets ready to knosh on the guy a lady in a black formal screams a name and starts to rush forward just as I vault onto the stage. I kick out as I slide into Stryker like I'm stealing home plate, and the impact causes him to drop the big guy as he falls on his ass.

I'm on my feet in a flash and placing myself between the vamp and man and woman. I chance a quick glance at them and the woman is at Big Guy's side, half pointing a gun in my direction. She has a look of confusion and, strangely enough, recognition on her face as she looks at me.

"Run" I tell them then I turn back to face Stryker.

"Sooo….is this a private dance or is everybody invited", that's right Buffy, smile, don't let him know how worried you are. There's over a dozen of dozen of them and the only wood I see is on the floors. Even with Slayer strength trying to tear up a hardwood floor without a crowbar would be damn hard. 

Ohhh!! Stryker doesn't have the look of a happy vamp as he gets back on his feet. And his minions have let their victims go and gathered around him. Just to be annoying I smile again and waggle my fingers at them. 

"Kill her," he growls at them. Oh boy! Mr. Pointy where are you when I need you.

I stand and wait for the charge when two eager beavers rush a head of the others. I kick the first one, sending him spinning head over heals. Turning I catch the fist of the second, poor guy's so surprised he doesn't even _try_ to move before I start to use his face as a punching bag. I finish up with a sidekick to the gut, and he goes flying across the stage. 

The rest of them are on me and I fall into a rhythm of punch, kick, block, punch, punch, using every trick that Giles has ever taught me. God, I need a stake, a chopstick, a pencil, hell even a toothpick, anything!! Then I hear Stryker tell them to surround me.

I don't think so fella, I'm not that easy.

Evading their maneuverings I end up on the edge of the stage and do a back flip off the side. I want to get in amongst the tables and chairs so they have to come at me one at a time. On landing my left foot hits something and I almost go to my knees, but I recover in time to catch a vamp in mid-air and pivoting, I send her crashing into a support column. Turning back I take a glance down to see what tripped me up. 

My eyes grow wide as I get a look at it. Is that what it looks like…a broom???

Picking it up I can feel the smile growing and I can barely contain a laugh of glee as my fingers feel the wood grain beneath the black paint. Quickly breaking of the brush I then snap the handle into two pieces. As I take a couple to practice swings with my makeshift stakes I feel the vamp I tossed coming at me from behind. Dodging her charge I thrust one of my stakes into her heart and with a screech she explodes into dust. 

Then, still smiling, I face the others. They've stopped, some even backing away and there is fear in their eyes. That's right you schmucks, be afraid, be _very_ afraid. The Slayer's armed and dangerous again. I hop back up onto the stage and even more of them start to back away. 

"What's your hurry, the dance isn't over yet." Then I attack, dusting two more before they know what's going on. Wading into the rest I use my sticks as a combination of cudgels then as stakes whenever I have an opening. And soon there are only six of Stryker's minions left with their boss standing behind them. Stepping forward while the others fall back on either side of him he glares at me. 

Go ahead blood breath, glare all you want, but you're going down.

"oooo!! Is the Big Bad gonna join the dance now," and I give him a smirk.

"Not yet Slayer, not tonight. But soon I'll kill you." He grits out between clenched teeth.

Man, do _all_ the big bad wannabe's get together to practice these lines. I mean they're all starting to sound the same.

"Oh puh_leeese!! If I had a buck for _every time_ one of you guys threatened to kill me I wouldn't have to work at the Double Meat Palace." 

We've been moving circling each other while trading retorts and I've been catching glimpses of the people in the room. Some in police uniforms and other in plain clothes or coveralls. And bodies, God so many bodies, still and quiet on the floor. I can't tell if any of them are still alive or just unconscious. I need to end this quick.

We end up with me facing outward and I can see Big Guy and Gun Lady standing with some other people staring at us. Most of them look hurt in some way and I see my detective guy lower another woman into a chair. They all have expressions on their faces that are a mix of terror and fascination at what they are seeing. Hope I survive long enough to answer their questions.

Ooops!! Buffy, pay attention girl, the vamps are getting ready for another charge. It's time for the next round of doo-see-doo. 

They attack and I have no more time to worry about our audience. One ends up dust right away and then I get a second but he twists away, tearing the stake caught in his ribs from my hand in the seconds before he turns to dust. More come at me and I manage to kick the larger one away from me. Blocking a punch I slip the stake into the forth one and she's gone to join her other dusty playmates.

I'm turning to face the big one when a boot hits my wrist and I lose my last stake as pain lances up my arm to my shoulder. I manage to evade a second kick aimed at my head, my own foot lashing out and I'm rewarded with a grunt of pain as it connects with his ribs. We end up staring at each other in one of those moments that seem to last forever but is really only a few seconds.

Then we're trading kicks and punches, neither one of us able to get the drop on the other. And I'm starting to get tired when I notice something. He's big, not as big as Big Guy, but big. And he's not used to fighting someone as short as I am. He's correcting the trajectory of his kicks or punches in mid swing. They start out aimed to high. 

So instead on blocking his next kick I drop under it, and while he's still balanced on one foot I kick it out from under him. Luck is with me as he falls flat on his face, fangs making an audible crack as his chin hits the floor. See there _are_ advantages to being small.

There's no time to be subtle, so leaping onto his back I dig a knee into his spine, grab his head in both hands and with a cry I rip it off. My knees hit the floor with a dull thunk as there's suddenly nothing in my hands or under me but dust. Then I look quickly around for the next attack.

Damn! Stryker and his last two buddies are gone; I'll have to try tracking them later. Right now it's time to see who is still alive.

I stand, pulling the rubber band from my hair, and I take a few moments to shake out the vamp dust, trying to come down off the fight high. For some reason, my spidey sense is still going off and I'm feeling edgy. Straightening back up I see Gun lady and her friends, staring at me wide eyed.

"What!?!?" 

Ah Buffy, cut them some slack, they've probably never even _seen_ a vampire before, let alone a dozen, and battling it out with a slayer no less. Boy the Q & A is going to be fun, but first things first.

Moving to the nearest body I check it for a pulse and find nothing but a rapidly cooling corpse. Despite the disappointment on my face this seems to break the paralysis of some of my audience and others start to help. Hopping off the stage I move to the still form of a lady cop and feel a small thrill when I find a weak heartbeat. Looking up I see my paramedic buddies standing just inside the entryway.

"Yo, Mickey..Ichabod. Get your butt's over here." Come on guys don't flake on me here.

They've got these twins expressions shock and disbelief on their faces. Like they're trying to tell themselves that none of this is real. Normally I wouldn't mind if they did, most people just aren't able to handle the fact that demons are real and not just stories in books. But to many people saw them and to many are hurt for me to worry about their delicate sensibilities. Right now their medical skills are needed so they're just going to have to deal.

"Come on, you guys _are_ paramedics right?" they nod in unison.

"Then get your butts in gear and get to work." I say and they begin to move.

Moving out of their way I watch for a few moments as they get to work. Then I take a look around the room and see that most everybody who can is helping, even some to the walking wounded. But I also see more expressions of grief than joy as they go from body to body. I glance at the first body I checked and wonder if he had a girlfriend, boyfriend, parents, did he have any kids. I close my eyes and take several deep, calming breaths. 

Opening them I look over at Big Guy and Gun Lady. Time to answer some questions and to ask some of my own. And something tells me they're the guys to talk to. I start to walk over to them when my toe hits something. It's the stake I lost in that last fight. Picking it up I continue around the stage.

Big Guy spots me right away and watches my progress for a moment then he says something to Gun Lady who's bent over him. Checking on his arm I think. She straightens up and turns to look at me. She's about my height but a bit curvier than I am with dark curly hair and creamy white skin. And she's still got that gun, which makes me a bit nervous.

As I get closer I see that she's also got some serious scars along her collarbone and on her left arm. Looks like something tried to use her for a chew toy. And her eyes, I've seen eyes like that before. Sometimes in a mirror my eyes will look like that, the eyes of someone that has seen too much, knows too much about things that hunt in the shadows. Brrrr, enough already.

They just watch, not saying anything as I get closer to them. Waiting to see what I've got to say first probably. Ok, I'm game.

"How are you guys doing," See Buffy no hurt you, Buffy _friend._

Neither Big Guy nor Gun lady says a word so I look behind them to the lady Det. Perry had been helping. From the way he had been holding her I expect her to be hurt a lot worse than she is but she just has some shallow cuts and some bruising. I think she's in some kind of mental shock. There's nothing I can do about that, I mean what do you tell a person when they find out that the monster under the bed is real.

Looking back to Big Guy I ask him about his arm.

"Dislocated," just one word, and no expression on his face. 

"You want me to pop it back into place." I offer and this earns me a raised eyebrow.

"No. Thank you." Okay, so much for playing nice. Let's cut to the chase.

"So, Big Guy…" I start.

"Storr," he interrupts.

"Ok, Mr. Storr.." 

"_Sergeant_ Storr," Gun Lady decides to get into the act.

"Right, Sergeant Sto…" I try again.

"And your name Miss…", alright already, enough with the tag team.

"Buffy"

"Buffy??" Gun Lady echoes me and I swear her lips are twitching.

"Yeah, Buffy Summers" and I send a narrow eyed stare her way, which she just returns. Then her eyes shift right and to a point behind me. Turning I see Detective Perry and another guy approaching. Perry looks pretty good not hurt to badly. The other man looks a lot worse and it's not just his puffy eye, I mean that has got to be the worst suit of clothes I have _ever_ seen. Even the rips and blood can't disguise that fact.

"Anything?" Big Gu..uh Sgt. Storr asks them.

"Gone, witnesses said they went down a manhole," returns Sloppy Guy while giving me a strange look. And I decide to rattle their cages, so stepping forward I hold out my hand and smile.

"Hi! I'm Buffy Summers", and I stand there waiting for him to take my hand.

With a dubious and amused look on his face he slowly reaches out and grasps my hand. 

"Buffy??"

"Yeah, Buffy," what _is it_ about my _name_ with these people?!?!

"Look folks, I know you've got some questions but could one of you tell me where I am? I mean this looks like it was a nice place and all but it sure isn't the cemetery and I think I would have heard of a new club in town." I need answers guys, pleeease.

"Cemetery??" says Det. Perry with a baffled look on his face.

"uh huh, the Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery," I say.

"Sunnydale," Sgt. Storr now, great, tag team again.

"California," come on guys work with me here.

They all trade looks with each other and I start getting a _real_ bad feeling about this. Then Gun Lady takes a step forward.

"You're in St. Louis," she says carefully.

"Missouri," and I feel my eyes getting big.

Gun Lady starts to say something else but I make a gesture to hold her off. I need to think this through. Stepping back I place my stake on the edge of the stage and then lean against it, closing my eyes.

Think Buffy think, what do you remember about the fight in the cemetery. Ok, I was surrounded by and fighting Stryker and some of his minions while the gang took on the rest of the group when I heard Xander yell at me to look out. I turned and….

"A Spell" I exclaim.

"Huh, what??" Sloppy Guy asks.

"Yeah, a teleportation spell gotta be. See we had tracked Stryker and his minions to this cemetery and we where in the middle of a fight when my friend Xander yelled for me to look out. I remember turning and seeing…_something_…in a robe throw a glowy thing at me. Next thing I know I'm waking up strapped to a gurney with Det. Perry over there asking me to open my eyes." Then I frown.

"But why send me to St. Louis," I say softly, more to myself than to the others "I mean if they wanted me out of the way the spell could have just been set to kill me. I can just get on a plane or a bus and be back in a few hours." It doesn't make sense.

"Miss??"

"uh, what," and I realize Sgt. Storr had been trying to get my attention. 

"How you got here aside, can you tell us about those creature," and it's not a question when he says that. Oh, this is going to be fun.

"Ok, this might be hard to believe but go with it ok." I take a deep breath. "Those were vampires." And I wait to see what they do.

They've all got these shocked looks and their faces and I can just tell that they all think I'm nuts. Then Gun Lady steps forward.

"No they aren't," she says with certainty.

"Look ummm…" 

"Anita Blake," she says.

"Look Anita, I know this might be hard to believe but vampires exist." I say

"Oh I _know_ that vampires exist," she says, which for some reason prompts a snort of laughter from Sloppy Guy and earns himself a glare from Anita, "and those things are _not_ vampires"

"Yes, they _are_," I say.

"No cherie, they are not." Says an accented male voice behind me. Great, someone else has decided to join the party

"Look fella, I've been dusting these things since I was fifteen years old. I _think_ I oughta know a vampire when I see…" 

Turning towards whoever is behind me I break off the second my lay eyes on him and his friend. And everything else in the room is forgotten as all my senses become focused on them and I finally know why my spidey sense is still buzzing.

Vampires.


	4. La Petite MorteChp 3 anita

Note: Ok folks, this took me a little while to get out. First some writers block then it turned into to the energizer bunny and just kept going and going. I hope you enjoy it.

_"La Petite Morte" _

Or "a little death"

By ranlynn 

**Part 3 (Anita)**

_My feet sill hurt._

This idle thought runs through my head as I watch Buffy roll her eyes and turn to face Jean-Claude, he'd interrupted us right when our little…debate… on vampires had starred to devolve to that most persuasive of arguments; *is _too_* *is _not_*. She's clearly intending to give him a piece her mind which, while it might be entertaining, could get a bit messy and time consuming. But the anticipated tirade never happens because the moment she sets eyes on the boys her voice breaks off and she becomes very still. And I go tense with apprehension, all concern about my feet disappearing. Watching her, with all her attention so focused on my vampires she reminds me of a leopard, the natural kind, I saw on a documentary recently…right before he pounced on a careless gazelle.

Shit! This is about to get messy, _real_ messy.

Then she's rushing them, moving with that deadly speed and grace we saw earlier, snatching up that stick of hers as she goes.

"Whoa!!!" "Stop!!" "Miss Summers!?!?!"

Everyone's scrambling, Dolph's lunging to his feet, a grimace of pain racing across his face. Zerbrowski and Perry dart forward trying to intercept her and some of the other officers that are near us reach for their guns, startled by the sudden commotion. All of us are surprised by her attack, with only Renolds remaining oblivious, and for the second time tonight I find myself desperately trying to get between people I care about and death on two legs. I hurry to bring the Firestar up and around, not wanting to shoot this person that saved so many lives tonight but knowing, with the cold, still part of myself that kills, I'll put her down.

Then she stops; like she has a rope tied around her waist and someone just jerked it up short. 

"Back off!!" Come on kid don't make me shoot you.

I'm standing to the side of them now and facing Buffy with my weapon up and aimed, pointed at her but she's just staring at the boys, her mouth opening slightly like she wants to say something but can't quite figure out what. There's a frown of confusion on her face as she takes a half step forward, hesitates then steps back. Her stick still clutched in her upraised hand. This repeats a couple of times. Meanwhile Jason, who had been trailing behind, has backed up and way from them to circle around behind me. ~_Good boy, he_ _knows better than to get in my line of fire.~_

Suddenly she exhales, a small explosive breath of air and her arms fall down to her sides. Then the confusion fades away to be replaced with a narrow eyed determination as she plants her fists on her narrow hips then stomps over to Jean-Claude and Asher. With that damned stick is still clutched in her right hand.

"Miss Summers??" Dolph tries to get her attention while waving the other officers to back off, but she shows no sign of having heard him.

I keep my gun raised, tracking her movements but something tells me she isn't in attack mode anymore. And I wait, praying that I'm right. ~_God! I hope I'm right about this; I really don't want to shoot her.~_

Stopping just out of arms reach she cranes her head forward slightly, staring Jean-Claude in the eyes. ~_Someone really ought to tell her she shouldn't do that_.~ Once a vampire catches your eyes they can roll your mind, it's almost automatic with them like breathing is for humans. And she stands there for so long unmoving that I'm beginning to think he went ahead and did it, despite that fact that using his abilities on a human without their consent could earn him a death sentence under the law. Even if you could argue that it was in self-defense. But then again, considering what we all witnessed here tonight I'm not sure _what_ Buffy is. She _seems_ human but ordinary humans can't do what she's been doing tonight.

She moves startling us but just leans over to her left a bit to stare at Asher. ~_God, don't do that! Do you _want_ to get shot? Everyone's jumpy enough as it is_.~ Catching Jean-Claude's eyes for a second I see a flash of dismay. Something about her has surprised him, but then the look is gone, and he's back to being the cool, calm and in control Master of the City.  

Buffy meanwhile, is still studying Asher and I do have to give her credit, she's not flinching. 

A couple of centuries back Asher and his human servant, a woman named Julianna had been taken by some over zealous church officials. A real fun bunch of guys. She'd ended up being burned at the stake as a witch and they'd decided to try and *burn the devil* out of Asher with holy water. Holy water is like acid to a vampire; with the end result being that now half his face, chest and the upper part of one thigh resemble melted wax. This is all Asher has allowed Jean-Claude or me see. We know that his scars extend somewhat below the waistline but he has assured us all that he is still…intact.

In his way Asher had once been as beautiful as Jean-Claude and there is still a terrible beauty there for those _willing_ to see, but with half his face left unmarked to stand in stark contrast to the scars…well the sight can be a bit… unsettling…to the un-initiated. ~_Hell even the initiated can find it hard_.~ But this Buffy seems to be having no trouble with it at all. Makes me wonder about the types of things she must have seen or experienced for the sight of Asher to seem ordinary. 

Makes me wonder…and scares me to. But that's OK, being scared has kept me alive on more than one occasion.

She shifts her weight again and goes back to staring at Jean-Claude, ignoring Dolph's attempts to get her attention. Actually I'm sort of impressed, not many people can manage to ignore Dolph so successfully, hard to miss he isn't. And Jean-Claude, bless his slowly beating heart, decides to be cute, tilts his head slightly smiles and then, deliberately flashes some fang. ~_Now _why_ did he do that?~  _Usually his survival instincts are much better than that but sometimes he surprises me and at least it does finally gets a response out of her as she *humffs* and takes a step back.

"Alright!! _Who_ are you two, how come you aren't all bumpy," she barks out.

Bumpy!?!

"And _how_ did you get a soul…"

Soul??

"you didn't piss off a tribe of Gypsies by any chance did ya?" she finishes with a suspicious frown.

Gypsies….souls….teleportation spells, Oh My! What the _hell_ is going on, I feel like I've been dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone, _without_ Rod Serling to explain things.

Jean-Claude glances my way, a question in his eyes but all I can do is shrug my shoulders_. ~Sorry babe, you're_ _on your own with that one._~

"My name is Jean-Claude, proprietor of this establishment and the Master of St. Louis" turning slightly and with a wave of his hand "this is my second Asher. I do not _think_ we have ever been, as you say *_bumpy*_, and as to whether or not we have a _soul_…. that is a matter of great debate amongst philosophers and theologians. And no, we have not _pissed off_ a tribe of Gypsies".

"Trust me, you've got one" she says, then she turns abruptly towards me " and _why_ are you pointing a gun at me" in an exasperated tone.

"Because you were going to attack them," I say with a twist of my lips that some might call a smile, I wouldn't but some would "and we've seen what you can do with that in your hands" a nod of my head indicating what's still held tightly in her hand, while finally lowering the Firestar and relaxing now that she doesn't seem intent on impaling the boys on a broken broom handle. It's hard to hold a gun extended that long without your arms and hands starting to shake or cramp.

She looks quizzically at the stick still in her hand before setting it down on a near by table, "Well yeah, they're vampires, you're supposed to stake vampires…at least the ones that don't have souls you do".

Huh!?! We all end up trading stares at her pronouncement, the Boys, Dolph, Zerbowski, me…everybody. I'd been going on the assumption that she was either grossly misinformed or just plain crazy. ~_But if she recognizes what Jean-Claude and Asher are?!?~_

"You realize that _they're_ vampires," Dolph says slowly, and she turns to him.

"Well… yeah, and so do you." Amazed, like she's not used to people admitting to that fact. 

"And you also think those creatures you were fighting are vampires too?" from Zerbowski.

"Weelll," she says with a smirk, "if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck and feelsduck, it's generally a sure bet that it's a duck".

It's Asher and Jean-Claude's turn to glance at each other, perplexed. 

"We…_feel…_like those ravening things to you?" Asher asks her carefully, motioning towards the stage where the creatures rampage had started.

"Sure! Well…. kind of.. sorta," she stumbles on the words, biting her lip. "You do and you don't." she finishes in a rush.

"Oh, now _that's _helpful." I snap.

"You know… it's like the difference between *New Coke* and *Classic Coke*," she says earnestly.

Oh_My_God.

Jean-Claude's eyes open wide in astonished disbelief. And I can't resist a muffled chuckle; the Master of the City reduced to the level of a soda pop. ~_I kinda doubt that's ever happened before.~ _I'm getting quite the show this evening; I've seen more spontaneous public displays of emotion on his and Asher's faces in the last few hours than I have for the last couple of months. After a few centuries of service to the Vampire Council you learn to show only what you want others to see_._ But this Buffy seems to be throwing everyone for a loop tonight. The last time I saw Jean-Claude looking this pole-axed was a couple of years back when he slipped and fell into the bathtub fully clothed. Don't ask.

There's a choking noise to my right and turning I see Jason, hands gripping the back of a chair, head bowed, shoulders shaking as he tries to keep from laughing in the vampires faces. Hmm, maybe he's finally learning some prudence_._ ~_Yeah, yeah _I_ chuckled at him, being the lover of the city's Master has _some_ privileges_.~ Zerbrowski' doesn't even try, laughing and shaking his head. Even Dolph and Perry smile in amusement. We do manage to draw some disapproving frowns from the personnel working around our little group, but after the events of this night it's good to have a release valve. And frankly laughter is one of the more healthy ones.

Buffy, meanwhile, is standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot and not looking the least bit amused by our mirth.

"If you're all _quite_ finished."

_Definitely _not amused.

"I _still_ don't know why Anita was pointing a gun at me," she says, clearly wanting to get back to business.

"Because Buffy," begins Zerbrowski, wiping tears from his good eye.

"Bu..Buffy!!" chortles Jason, finally breaking, so much for prudence "Buffy the monster killer??? Who names their kid Buf..ack!!"

He cuts off with a surprised squawk as she emits what I swear is a growl, and is suddenly standing in front of him. Before he can react she grabs him by his suit coat and lifts him up so he's dangling about six inches off the ground. ~_Good going fur face, you just might get that *thumping* I'm always saying you're going to get.~_ Though I'm not _that_ concerned. If I thought she meant to do any _real _damage I'd be getting in her face right about now. Wouldn't want to have to explain to Richard how I let one of his wolves get squashed.

"One! It's _Slayer_ not _Monster Killer_"

There's that Slayer thing again. Need to ask about that.

"Two! My _mother_ named me Buffy." 

Oh yeah, now _that _was a growl. Don't _ever _insult this girl's mother, even by accident. Makes her a bit testy.

She gives him a shake before setting him down hard enough to make him stumble. ~_But no *thumps*,_ _somebody up there must have a soft spot for incorrigible were-wolves.~_ Turning away she stalks over to her former position grumbling about "_Buffy_ being a perfectly good name" and "_wwwhyy…_ did _everybody_ here find it so amusing." 

Stopping she turns, takes a deep breath, exhales and gives a little shake. Then with a wave of her hand motions for Zerbrowski to continue.

"Because Buffy…" then he pauses and we all look at Jason, who just raises his hands and backs away, shaking his head "it's a murder charge to kill a vampire without a court ordered writ of execution _or_ in a case of self-defense."

"Huh?! Murder charge!?! They're already dead!" she exclaims, then looks at Asher "no offense"

"None taken," a small nod of his head.

"Miss Summers, they are _legally_ alive." says Perry, joining the conversation "and since they _are_ legally considered alive they enjoy all the protection and rights every other United States citizen is allowed under the law."

"Legally alive???….U.S. citizen??….since when" she squeaks, eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Ever since congress passed that bill, about ten years now" I tell her, trading bewildered looks with the others. This is old news. Where's she been living, in a cave? How can she not know any of this? God, maybe she is deluded.

Glancing back at her I'm startled to see that she's gone very still.

"Ten..Years….what's the date?" she asks me, voice carefully neutral.

"Date??" asks Zerbrowski confused.

"The date, you know…month_day_year, that date" she says clearly and slowly and Zerbrowski tells her. Looking down she stands there with a hand pressed tight to her stomach, breathing deeply through her nose.

Jason shifts restlessly beside me and I look at him. His gaze is focused on Buffy, ready grin absent for once.

"What's wrong?" I say softly.

He leans towards me slightly, "Her heart-rate just jumped up a few notches, and I'm smelling fear" he returns, barely audible. 

_~Fear?? Why would today's date generate fear?~_

"Buffy.." I snap, trying to drag her out of her funk "Buffy!!" And she looks up at me "Is there something special about today's date?"

"No, no nothing special. It's the right date an' all" she says, "uh would any of you have a phone…a cell phone I could use??" 

Jean-Claude reaches into his jacket to retrieve his cell and extends it to her. She studies the hand holding the phone before taking it, a funny little expression crossing her face. ~_Guess I'm not the only one that thinks cell_ _phones and Jean-Claude are a strange mix.~ _Softly saying thanks she turns and takes a few steps away from us, to give herself the illusion of privacy I imagine.

As she starts dialing Asher comes over to stand beside me.

"Anita?" he asks me, as confused as the rest of us.

I shake my head and shrug my shoulders, "Got no idea. But she's spooked big time."

We wait and watch, Dolph sitting down with a small sigh. ~_The man really needs to get that arm looked at soon.~ _I take the opportunity to put away the Firestar, turning aside so I'm at least not flashing the _entire_ room. And for once Jason and Zerbrowski resist making some cute remark about any matching lingerie. Perry meanwhile, goes to check on Renolds, this fugue she's in is beginning to worry him, and me if I'm honest. I mean she's not my favorite person in the world but I don't want to see anything happen to her. Zerbrowski just stands with the boys and me as we watch Buffy begin to pace. Her voice is too low for me to hear her as she dials what appears to be number after number. 

"Are you getting any of that," I ask Jason softly, nodding at the girl.

"Names…Willow…Xander…please pick up…now she's asking information if they can find the listings." He tells me, his voice pitched as low as mine. "A place called the Magick Box…and the Double Meat Palace, no results. By the by, Micah said to say he's staying at his apartment tonight and he'd see you tomorrow. Oh yeah, and Richard Called."

Oh great, I should've figured he pick up something through the Marks. Well I'll talk to him later.

Buffy stops pacing for a moment, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before beginning to dial again. ~_I hope Jean-Claude has a good calling plan_.~ And Jason continues to relay highlights of what she's saying but something's wrong with the picture we're getting. One, maybe two people might not be reachable but with all the numbers she's trying she should have had a hit by now. The businesses, especially the one that sounds like a fast food joint should have had a listing.

"She's talking to information in Los Angelus now, asking for a Cordelia Chase….Wesley Wyndom-Price….now an Angel Investigations, sounds like a detective agency." Asher takes over the eavesdropping commentary. We really should give her some privacy but frankly I want to know what _the hell_ is going on. "Wolfram and Hart-Attorneys at Law….no listing."

She's been in almost constant motion while making her calls, pacing back and forth between the stage and us. With this last attempt she stops in front of us. Looking up she dials again, only now she's close enough for me to hear what's being said, on her end anyway.

"Hi information…can you connect me to the international operator…Thanks, I'll hold. Hi operator…Bath, England please….no I don't remember the number, don't they have information people over there…thanks. Hello…yes Bath….Giles, Rupert Giles….yes I'll wait…..yes, yes I'm still here….no listing, are you sure….thank you operator"

With this she turns the phone off and closes it, the actions having a… deliberateness about them, like she's being extra careful. Handing it back to Jean-Claude with a quiet thanks she steps back and just stands there, jaw tight and her eyes closed. Looking at her clenched fist I'm thinking Jean-Claude is damn lucky he got his phone back in one piece. If she still had it in her hand it would have been reduced to so much scrap by now.

"Miss Summers?" Perry back from checking on Renolds, polite and considerate as always "Miss Summers, are you alright?"

Her eyes snap open at Perry's question, reminding me of a deer caught in headlights. She looks at him for a few moments before giving out a short laugh that just _might_ have a thread of hysteria running through it.

"Nooo…no *alright* isn't exactly how I'd describe things right now," her head snaps up and she glares at the ceiling. "Can't you guys ever give me a bloody _BREAK!?!_ Is it the *throw everything you can at Buffy* year or what?!?! Did you think things were getting too _easy_ for me?" By now she's not just glaring but also shaking a fist at the ceiling. Then she looks back at us, and our varied expressions of stunned amazement at this mini-tirade of hers. Leaning against a table she drops her head into her hands, the picture of dejection. 

"Life_Sucks!"

"What_was that was all about?" I ask her, resisting the urge to laugh at her exasperated, slightly whiney tone. 

"Well….it's going to sound crazy."

"Yeah right, like any of this was sane to begin with." I snap. Come on kid, it's not going to get any easier. And I've got a feeling we need to hear what you have to say, crazy or not.

Eyes narrowing at my tone of voice she straightens up away from the table. Opening her mouth to reply her eyelids suddenly droop and she goes pale. ~_God she looks like she's going to faint.~_ In fact she starts to collapse when, in an instant Asher is at her side. He helps her into a chair keeping a hand on her shoulder. Perry seems to be just a fraction slower as he crouches down on the other side of her. There's nothing quite like being small, blonde and delicate to bring out a man's protective instincts. Even _after _having seen her toss a dozen… _whatevers… _around like dolls. Living or un-dead, doesn't seem to matter, men are easy.

"Whoa…boy. I think the adrenaline just wore off. I feel exhausted." Then she yawns hugely.

Eyes wide in embarrassment she claps a hand over her mouth and gives us a muffled "s'cuse meh". Chuckling softly Asher steps back but stays close and Perry stands as well.

"Miss Summers, are you going to be alright?" Dolph's on his feet again. Looking at the set of his jaw I can tell his arm is giving him hell. Damn it! I feel like telling him to go get the thing taken care of already, before it gets any worse. But he's not going to leave before Buffy gets down to the nitty gritty. I can't even blame it on testosterone poisoning like I could any other man; it's simply Dolph. Get the job done.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just that I worked a double shift today and I can't even begin to tell you what I had for breakfast this morning," she frowns, thinking, "at least I _think_ I had breakfast? Plus traveling through a dimensional portal can be draining too."

Dimensional Portal?!? Oh yeah, definitely The Twilight Zone. I can feel the headache starting to form behind my eyes already. On the good side, maybe it'll take my mind off of my sore feet. 

Pinching the bridge of my nose I slant a look at her. "Would you mind explaining that for us?"

"Like I said it's going to sound a bit crazy." A wave of her hand encompasses our surroundings, "That teleportation spell? _Wasn't_ a teleportation spell. Thought for a second that it might have been a temporal fold but the dates match up so that's not it. And I can't reach any of my friends; Sunnydale, CA isn't even in the database according to the operator. So I'm pretty sure this is some kind of parallel dimension. Or it could be an alternate reality, not really sure what the difference is, Willow'd know, but yeah I'm thinkin' one of those two."

"An alternate… reality??"

"Uh huh. Well…from _my_ perspective this is an alternate reality, of course for _you_ it'd the real reality but for me it isn't. Thing is I've experienced alternate realities before and my friends were always there, different but there so I leaning towards this being a parallel dimension of some kind. Which also explains why _they_" and she points at Jean-Claude "don't feel exactly the same they're a… different type… of…vamp… oh, Oh!"

Buffy's stares at my vampires voice trailing off, before making a small exclamation of discovery. I can practically see a little light bulb above her head. It's obvious that something has just clicked in that brain of hers.

"Different _type…_?" Dolph prompts her.

"Yeah" almost absentmindedly, still staring at the boys "my guys are demons."

Zerbrowski gives a snort "you can say that again."

"Huh..what??" she turns to him.

"You can say that again" he repeats.

Buffy looks at him, then she looks at me and something inside me comes to attention. ~_Oh I don't like that look in her eyes.~_ Turning back to Zerbrowski she purses her lips and cups her palm to her cheek, drumming her fingers lightly.

"That..uh… _wasn't _a metaphor, they're _Demons. _In a human body." Then she stifles a yawn. "Your guys aren't though," another yawn and a shake of the head "not sure _what_ they are, they set off my *spidey sense* but they're not demons. Which is kinda wiggy actually, I mean vampires that aren't demons. Giles would be in research heaven if he were here. Which he isn't."

"Demons? Real demons??" 

I think back to when I met Blondie's eyes earlier, as he and his buddies attacked us. Those yellow inhuman eyes. I also remember that…itchy feeling I had assumed came from some leftover magical residue. ~_Is she telling the truth?~ _That coke reference of hers might actually make sense, in a weird sort of way.I know vampires andI've been close, _real_ close to true a demon before. ~_Did I just fail to recognize the _*flavor*_ of these things?~_

"Yup!" then she takes note of the stunned disbelieving looks aimed at her and sighs. 

"O_K! Guess it's time for *Buffyverse Demonology 101*." 

Jason looks at me and silently mouths *buffyverse*?? I just shake my head at him.

Rubbing her hands together she leans back into the chair. "Giles is better at explaining this stuff but I'll give it a shot…..untold millennia ago," she briefly adopts a _really _bad English accent "demons walked and ruled the earth. And humans? Humans were just the featured entrée for an *all you can eat* buffet. Yeah sure, maybe some became pets but basically, we were kibble. Anyway this went on for tens of thousands of years then one day the PTB's.."

"the PTB's??" Perry asks.

"The Powers That Be…??" she sighs at his confusion, "Look, you can call it what you like, forces of light, God, Buddha, the Shwartz,_ whatever_! The_Powers_That_Be..." a yawn. "Anyway they decided they were going to give humanity a chance and set about driving the demons back into their home dimensions. Only one of these Big Bads attacked a human right before it was thrown out. It drained this human to the point of death and right before he or she died forced that human to drink some _it's_ blood in return. The human died, its soul going off to wherever souls go, and what set up shop in the empty body was the essence of a newborn demon. Now, and this is my friend Willow's theory, since memories" another yawn, hope she stays awake to finish this, crazy as it all sounds "are physically stored by chemicals in the brain this newborn demon had all the knowledge stored in that brain. With the _human_ personality becoming a sort of a template for the infant demon's own personality."

She yawns, closing her eyes and giving a little shake of her head, "But it'd be like looking at that personality reflected in a funhouse mirror, all bent and twisted and turned back upon it self. And the part that really bites" 

_~Oh she did not just say _*bites*_ did she_?~

"Because the vampire's hybrid nature, a demon in a human body, gave it an anchor to this dimension it couldn't be driven out with the other pure demons. In fact _all_ the demons that walk the earth are tainted in someway, not pure demon, giving them all an anchor."

"All the demoms??? And I suppose there are a lot of demons walking around where you come from?" a skeptical Zerbrowski.

"Well they just don't normally go walking around in public, especially during the day. But yeah, there are dozens of demon species around." 

"You realize of course that this sounds crazy." I tell her.

She wrinkles her nose "yeah, I know," tone almost apologetic.

"Why should we believe you?" I give her a hard look. I may be starting to buy into all this but I'm not going to tell her that. Besides you can never be too paranoid.

"Because it's the truth?" she says hopefully.

"Anita" Dolph says to me, rising from the chair to take a few steps away "may I speak to you for a moment."

And he motions for Zerbrowski and Perry to follow.

Being pretty sure on what he wants to discuss I snag Jean-Claude's sleeve and drag him along with me. Dolph gives me a look that asks me, _what to you think you're doing? _I return it with one of my own asking him to trust me, even if he doesn't trust Jean-Claude. Buffy meanwhile just sits, waiting and taking a good look around at the once pristine restaurant. 

Dolph opens his mouth and I hold up my hand, forestalling the inevitable lecture. Turning to Jean-Claude I ask him "Is she telling the truth?"

He is quiet for a moment then "She believes what she is saying petite, believes it all to be true. She may be insane of course but I sense no madness in her."

"And we are supposed to take your word for this?" Dolph, distrust of Jean-Claude and to a lesser extent me, very clear. It didn't use to be this way, the lack of trust. But when I started to share my bed with the monsters things changed, I became….suspect. It hurts, believe me it hurts, but I live life on my own terms, no one else's.

"You may believe whatever you like detective. But consider how they arrived here, by a type of magic unfamiliar to one who has lived centuries. And creatures the like of which I have never heard of let alone seen before. Yes I believe her." Jean-Claude finishes serenely. 

"Anita?" Dolph turns to me.

Reluctantly, grudgingly I answer, "I believe her too. And yeah, I know it sounds crazy."

"Maybe those PTB's are sending you a message" Zerbrowski smirks. Cute, I just glare at him.

"Uh guys," turning we see Buffy standing a few feet away, stifling another yawn "don't mean to interrupt but you've got three demon vampires loose in your city. And I don't know about your vamps but _mine_ do not play well with others. And I hate to say this.." double yawn "I'm in no shape to go track them down right now." 

Turning to Dolph, Perry suggests, "It'll be dawn in a little over an hour. If we get some dogs down into the sewers we may be able to find them while they sleep. They can't be familiar enough with the city to hide well."

Buffy blinks then turns to Jean-Claude. "So what kind of coffin do you have, Cherry, Oak, Mahogany? Mahogany's pretty" she says.

"Ebony, lined with cream satin." Jean-Claude is as confused as the rest of us by this seeming non sequitur.

"Sounds nice" Buffy nods approvingly before facing Perry and Dolph "but… uhm…see… despite popular myth in my world and apparently reality in yours, my guys are perfectly capable of moving around in the daytime. They just need to avoid direct sunlight. So anywhere that can be accessed from underground by a sewer, subway or maintenance tunnel is fair game. And Caves, does St. Louis have any natural cave systems under the city? Cause caves are a big thing with them to." 

_~They can move around in the daytime?!? Well…Damn.~_

You know, my life has actually been pretty good lately. Works going easy, Bert isn't after me for once to take some weird, potentially fatal job. The hunger of the _ardeur_ has decreased to a point where I don't need one of the boys near me every day. It hasn't raised its head for the last month in fact ~_though I won't let myself believe that it's gone for good~_ giving Micah and me a chance to see if we even actually _like _each other without it's influence. And our two pards are meshing well. Things might still be a bit…tense with Richard but even that's been getting better. And until tonight I haven't even had to shoot anything since right after becoming the packs _Bolverk_ when I took out some troublemakers. Yeah life's been good. I really should have been ready for the Fates to throw me a curve. 

_~If those three bitches ever manifest themselves physically they better hope I don't have the Browning Hi-Power on me, or the mini-uzi.~_

Asher and Jason walk over to join us. "When then, do they rest mademoiselle?"

She shrugs, "Whenever they're tired." 

Oh hell. Snagging a chair I sit down and toe off my shoes. I hadn't been planning on doing that yet, any woman will tell you that's a very bad idea if there's _any _chance you might have to put them back on. But I figure I can live with a pair of ruined stockings. Or maybe I'll just get Jean-Claude to carry me to the Limo. I want to be as comfortable as I can right now.

"Ok, they can move around during the day right?" she nods her head. "So what else is different about them?"

OK, it's not an entirely fair question. Frankly I don't feel like being fair right now.

"I don't know," she shrugs a shoulder "I don't know what your guys can or can't do"

"Start with the basics. How do you kill them"

"The usual way, wooden stake through the heart, fire, beheading, direct sunlight. Oh!!" she raises her hand, index finger pointed up "and Holy Water if you can trick one into drinking it." she frowns "But I really wouldn't count on that one working too often."

Asher looks horrified; I can't imagine what memories are going through his head. "You…. tricked one into drinking _Holy Water?!?"_

"Uh huh, he needed something to swallow his pills with. So I just switched the tap water in his glass with the Holy Water. Then when he drank it he went poof."

"Pills??" since when do vampires need to take pills or drink water for that matter? Wait a second! "Can your guys eat food, regular food?"

"Yeah… though most don't bother, it won't sustain then or anything. And becoming a vamp changes the taste buds or something; regular food doesn't taste the same, like it isn't real. Though one vamp I know likes spicy buffalo wings and hot chocolate." Then she gives a little shudder "Not together though, cause that's just… wrong, eeuch." 

"Hot…chocolate?"

"With those mini marsh-mellows," holding her fingers about ¼ inch apart. 

Zerbrowski steps forward. "I have a question."

"OK shoot" Buffy stands straight, hands clasped behind her back. Looking like, of all things, a kid conducting her first *show and tell*.

"If they're vampires how come silver bullets didn't even slow them down?"

She blinks, she seems to do that a lot. "Hello…_Vampire?? _Silver's for were-wolves or Fyral demons, I mean shooting them hurts but usually it just makes them even more anti-social then they already are."

The mention of were-wolves grabs Jason's attention. "So you have were-wolves where you come from?"

She nods, "My best friend used to date one. Look guys we're getting off track here. Demon vampires remember, loose in your city. Hopefully they feel as wasted as I do but they did have a chance to feed," she drops her eyes before somberly looking at the bodies and people around the room "so there's no way to tell. And even if they are sleeping and you do find them they can wake like _that!"_  She snaps her fingers "Anyone you send will end up dead or turned. Stryker's lost a lot of minions so he's going to be looking for people to turn anyway. We might catch a break there, though I'm not counting on it." 

"A break?? How?" Dolph asks.

"Well did you happen to notice how all his people were blue/gray eyed blondes, sorta medium to tall?"

I frown. "Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?"

"See Stryker, and don't ask me why or when he started calling himself that cause I don't know, is just a little over 60 years dead and when he was human used to be this guy named Wilhelm Carl Shultz. And he was, amongst other things, a young promising, junior officer on the fast track in the SS."

_~Did I just hear that right?~_

"The SS?? He's a _Nazi?!?"_

She bobs her head and wrinkles her nose "Used to be, course he'd probably _eat_ Hitler now instead doing the whole Zig-Hiel thing. Now most of the time the folks he turns usually meet some kind of ideal of _*Aryan*_ physical perfection. It's one of those leftover personality thingies I guess."

A Demon Vampire Nazi….I need to sit down. Nope already sitting down, maybe I should stand up. Would anyone notice it I just went off into a corner and quietly had hysterics? Or maybe I'll just go home and crawl into bed with Sigmund. 

"Are you alright?" Looking up at the concern in Buffy's voice I realize I had dropped my head into my palms and had been silently laughing. Nice, I can just imagine what public hysteria would do for the Executioner's rep.

"Oh I'm ducky, just wanting to go home and hug Sigmund." Now why did I say that?

"Sigmund?" 

"He's her stuffed penguin" Jason tells her with entirely too much laughter in his voice. ~_I wonder how long it would take before Richard or the pack noticed he was missing.~  _While I'm teasing myself with images of dropping Jason down a deep well Buffy says something that catches my attention.

"I have a stuffed piggy named Mr. Gordo"

Turning I see her watching me. Then she gives me this smile, just a twitch of her lips and we share a moment of understanding that only two people who know and appreciates the comfort that can be found in a plush toy will have. 

"So he only turns blondes?"  Zerbrowski asks.

"Nooo….I said _most_ of the time the people he turns fit that profile. He will turn others; it all depends on how eager he is to rebuild his ranks. If I was at home I'd bet on a few days but here….he's not stupid, he'll figure out this isn't our world soon and then…." She shakes her head.

"So we have at least three days before the first people he turns rise. If we don't find him before he starts that is." I say.

Buffy blinks and stares at me. _Ah shit!_ That's the same look she gave Zerbrowski when she told us these things were demons. 

"Just tell us." I say, resigned to this new twist.

She takes a deep breath and bites her lip before answering. "It…can take three days, it can take three minutes, but it usually takes just a few hours, sorry " she finishes softly.

Perry steps forward, "If these things are vampires the three the got away have earned an automatic death sentence according to our laws for the murders they committed tonight, but anyone they turn hasn't yet."

Buffy closes her eyes briefly "Look you can't treat my vamps like your vamps, or anyone they turn like your vamps OK. They_Are_Demons." She says forcibly "They wear a human face until they feed but they are demons. Their idea of fun is to finger paint with body fluids. _Other peoples_ body fluids. They don't care if they have legal status or that they can own businesses. Not unless it'd make the hunting easier. To them we're just walking blood bags, especially to Stryker. He has nothing but absolute contempt for humans. If you start thinking of them as anything other than a demon you're going to get people killed." She sighs, "Of all the vampires I've met I've only known two that are different. And one of those is under a Gypsy curse."

"And the other?" asks Asher

"Spike??" her eyes loose focus for a moment. "Spikes just….weird."

Spike?? Glancing over at Jason I notice he's raised his chin slightly, like he's scenting something. Reaching out I tug on his jacket and he looks down at me and sees the question in my eyes. Leaning down he whispers in my ear.

"Her scent changed for a second." 

I whisper back "Changed, how?"

"Like yours does when you're thinking about Jean-Claude."

Whoa! I can feel my eyebrows rise when I hear that. I know the things that come to mind when I think about Jean-Claude and the feelings they invoke, at least when he hasn't pissed me off. ~_Buffy's feeling the same type of things for one of these *demons*??~ _Somehow I don't think *weird* quite covers this… Spike… if she's having feelings like that. 

Looking a bit apprehensive she says "And there might be another problem." 

Dolph, "Another problem?" 

"ya huh" she turns to Jean-Claude. "You said you were the master of the city?"

"Oui"

"So all the city's vamps answer to you, right?"

Jean-Claude inclines his head "Ouí, all the other masters and their people must swear allegiance to me." 

"So what do you think your people are going to do when a group of foreign vampires move in and start trying to take over?" Buffy asks him.

Jean-Claude doesn't answer her; instead he looks over at Dolph. Everyone knows that the preternatural community has a tendency to...police…itself and there usually isn't a big effort made to investigate when something goes down unless *civilians* get involved. But seeing as vampires are supposed to be honest law abiding citizens now it just isn't done to _admit_ to things like that.

"What point are you trying to make Miss Summers?" Perry asks curiously.

"Well one of Stryker's favorite things to do in a new town is to take out the local masters and take over their territories. He doesn't ever stay around very long but he does like to be the top dog while he's there." 

"I assure you mademoiselle" says Jean-Claude "my people can protect themselves."

"Uh huh" she rubs her temples "Ok, let's try this. You've got a closed eco-system with a top predator in place" waves a hand at Asher and him "and everthing is in balance and works just fine. Then someone comes along and drops _another _top predator into this system only this one has some biological advantages over the native species."

Oh Fuck! The sunlight thing, they can move around in the day.

"They don't have to sleep during the day." Says Asher, catching on.

"Uh huh, they can even dash across a street under a blanket if they need to and apparently they can reproduce faster than you guys can too. And they look human until they feed, great camouflage."

Oh god, if these guys go after out vampires…there'd be no way to hide this. The resulting bloodbath could undo everything that our vampires have accomplished here in America, revoke their status as legally alive citizens. Every half-baked monster hunter in the country would be free to hunt them again. A few years ago that might not have bothered me but now I've met to many *people* amongst them now, people I care about. People I love. 

"It would be a war." Zerbrowski says flatly. Buffy just nods her head.

"What would you suggest we do Miss Summers?" Dolph asks her.

"Do?? Well first you,' she says, pointing a finger at him "get that arm taken care. I mean really, don't you know being macho is a leading cause of death. Then city plan maps, sewer tunnels, maintenance tunnels, subways, does St. Louis have subways? And you'd better find a geologist or someone that can tell you if you have any caves under the city. Oh yeah, and empty or abandoned warehouses, those make good lairs too. And make a list of everybody that gets reported as missing starting tonight. They may or may not be a candidate for turning." Facing Jean-Claude. "You make sure that wherever you sleep is secure, all underground entrances are sealed tight. They need an invitation to enter a human's home and with you guys not being demons and having souls that might work for you too. But I can't tell you if that will be true or not until they try. You do set off my *spidey sense* so I have a feeling they probably won't need an invite."

"And then?" prompts Perry.

"Then after I get some sleep and some food I go to work and take care of these things." 

"Miss Summers I can't let you go off like some vigilante." Dolph tells her.

"I'm not a vigilante." She says, annoyed, "I'm the Slayer, this is what I do, OK. You try to take care of this on your own you'll just get killed."

Seeing Dolph start to bristle I decide to jump in. "Slayer?? That's what Blondie called you. What is that?"

"Well, remember I said that the PTB's couldn't drive out the vampires and other tainted demons, because they had and anchor to our dimension?" I nod. "Well what they _could_ do was create or choose mortal warriors to fight them. The first of these was the Slayer." She tells us, stifling another yawn. God she's almost asleep on her feet.

"And that's what you are? Some kind of mystical warrior guardian of humanity?" Jason asks dubiously.

"Yeah, one girl in all the world, a chosen one. Born with the strength and skill to hunt vampires, demons and other assorted nasties, blah, blah, blah. Trust me, it's not a glamorous as it sounds." And she starts ticking off on her fingers. "No dental, no medical, the hours suck, your social life takes a nose dive and most end up be dead by their 18th birthday. And you have to lie to everybody cause if you told them the truth you'd end up in a padded room wearing a really ugly white jacket that has sleeves that connect in the back."

"Huh? Why?" Jason asks her, confused.

She sighs, "Because back home most folks don't know and don't want to know about the monsters, They're willing to accept any explanation, any at all just so long as it sounds half way sane. It was too dark. It was punks in Halloween masks or on drugs. Or they just imagined it. Anything but the truth, that's something they just can't handle."

Dolph stand there thinking for a moment, then seems to come to a decision. "I'll to talk to the police commissioner and the mayor. Apprise then of the situation, then get someone at City Planning to find those maps." He gives Zerbrowski a look who, takes out his phone and starts dialing, already working on it.

"Don't tell them these things are vampires." I tell him. "Perry had a point, if you call them vampires someone is going to start yelling about their rites. I'd say vampire _*like*_ creatures. Hell with them being awake during the day they'd qualify as a different species of critter anyway. Everyone knows that *real* vampires can't stay awake during daylight hours." 

"And I wouldn't say anything about alternate realities either," Buffy pipes in "you'll just confuse them."

Yeah, lets not strain the City Fathers with to much information. They might hurt themselves.

"Do you think they'll stay in the city or try to leave?" I ask her.

"Oh no, Stryker will hang around alright." 

"How can you be so sure, he might think it's safer to cut and run?" Jason asks.

She smiles grimly "Because he came to Sunnydale to bag himself a Slayer and hey, still alive here. No he'll hang around."

Asher eyes her speculatively "You do not seem very upset about someone wanting to kill you."

"Same song, different verse" she shrugs. "Something's always trying to kill me, it's part of the whole *chosen one* gig." 

"You and Anita should swap stories," says Jason, smiling.

"huh?"

He bows, sweeping a hand in my direction. "Slayer, meet the Executioner." She shrugs her shoulders and looks at me.

I sigh, "I'm a licensed vampire executioner."

She raises her brows, a question in her eyes.

"When a vampire breaks the laws, kills someone or feeds or rolls the mind of an unwilling human it's a mandatory death sentence since with their powers it would be impossible to keep them in prison unless he or she cooperated. When that happens and the courts hand down a ruling it's my job to execute the vampire in question." I shrug a shoulder. "It's made me a few enemies along the way." Of course most of them are dead now but I'm not going share that since some of those kills would earn me a death sentence as well.

"oh, Ok" She yawns turning to Dolph "uh, while you're working on all that organizing stuff where can I get some sleep? If you have a cot in an empty cell even that would be fine."

"I have more comfortable beds at the Circus. If you would accept my hospitality." Jean-Claude offers, being the selfless guy that he is. 

"the circus?" 

He nods "The Circus of the Damned, my home and place of business."

Buffy stares at him in disbelief "_Circus of the Damned!?!_ You've been reading too many Anne Rice novels." She shakes her head. "No offense, I'm sure you're a great guy and I know you've got a soul but there's no way I'm staying in the lair of a master vamp I just met, sorry. Besides if one of you guys come near me before I've had my first cup of coffee…well lets just say it wouldn't be pretty."

"Very well mademoiselle." Then he turns to look at me. 

My eyes narrow and I stare back at him. I know what he wants me to do. I try to pick something up through the Marks but he's not letting anything show. Not that I can't guess, something about her surprised him earlier and he's going to want to figure it out. If she stays with me it just makes access to her easier. Of course I want to keep an eye on her myself if only to keep her from staking any of our people. 

"You can stay at my place." I tell her.

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, I've got the room." Of course I have to call home and have Nathaniel get the spare room ready. And make sure that any of the leopards that are there have some clothes on. Most lycanthropes don't bother with them in private but somehow I don't think Buffy is up to dealing with a bunch of naked cats.  

"Ok, thanks" she sways slightly, all but asleep standing up.

Dolph turns to me "I'll give yo…"

"You tore his head off." 

What the hell! Turning in the direction of the voice we stare at Renolds. She appears a bit dazed but aware and she's staring at Buffy.

"You tore his head off," she repeats herself. Asher looks at me at her statement and I nod in confirmation, he hadn't been there for that part. "Why did you tear his head off, why didn't you…"

"Stake him?" Buffy says gently and Renolds nods jerkily.

Buffy drops her eyes "hmm…lesson the first" she says almost too soft to hear.

"What?"

Stretching out her hand she picks the stick, "Lesson the first; a Slayer must always reach for her weapon" then she ghosts a hand across her face "they've already got theirs. He was over a foot taller and a hundred fifty pounds heavier. And I was getting tired; if I had taken the time to look for my stake he would have been on me again before I found it. It's not something I do very often, it's leaves me open to an attack but I didn't feel any others close to me. So I took a chance."

Renolds nods looking down and Perry goes to stand beside her. Dolph studies her for a moment trying to gage exactly what I'm not sure. Maybe if she will be able to work past this? Be able to still do her job. It's hard to say. 

Glancing at me he says, "I'll call this afternoon." 

Nodding I turn to Buffy and the boys. "Ok kids it's time for all good little vampires, wolves and Slayers to hit the sack." 

When did I become den mother of the universe?

TBC 


	5. LPM chapter 4 & notes

Sorry folks, not a NEW chapter but FF.Net has this new policy about * author's notes * being posted as stand alone chapters. And since *removing* the last chapter will remove an entire story I'm needing to post this twice. 

Again, sorry to those waiting for a *new* chapter 

**Ranlynn**

"La Petite Morte" or "a little death" 

Chapter 4 (Buffy)

by ranlynn

Sky blue eyes, wide with shock, stare into mine and a gurgling-ghak sound tries to force its way past the hand I have wrapped tight around his throat.

"What the hell is going on?!?!" 

Anita's voice lashes across us like a whip and I snatch my hand back like I had hold of a hot iron while he bends over slightly, coughing.

"oh god, oh god, oh god, breath, breath…uhm.. uh" ~_ah jeeze what's his name again~ _"Jason! Jason can you breath, oh pleeease be able to breath." _~Oh god, I hope I didn't permanently crush anything.~_

"Would one of you mind telling me what happened? Jason did you do something?" Uh oh, Anita's not happy. She standing there with her arms crossed, flanked on either side by those non-demony vamps, Jean-Claude and Asher. Glaring at us.

Jason looks up at her through watery eyes, "no…cough…Anita I didn't…cough..do anything. I'm innocent."

She gives a snort of disbelief and turns to glare questioningly at me. _~Boy she's really good at that glaring stuff.~_

"No, no….he really is," I hurry to tell her. "It's just…we were waiting for you guys to finish talking to Det. Zerbrowski and I leaned up against the limo and I…uh…guess I dozed off cause the next thing I know is hearing a noise and then something touched me…"

"Touched you?!?" She snaps, shooting a look at Jason. 

Whoops! "No! He didn't touch anything he shouldn't have but like I said I think I dozed off because it startled me and I just sorta, kinda… you know…reacted." I turn and give Jason an apologetic look, "I am sooo sorry Jason, really."

Standing straight now and rubbing his throat but breathing easier, he waves off my apology. "It's ok, no permanent harm done."

"No, actually it's not OK. Someone as strong as I am has no business being careless. I get careless and people can get hurt," an image of the man Faith accidentally staked all those years ago flashes briefly across my mind, "maybe even die." I want to make this clear, that I don't just go around mangling every Tom, Dick or Harry I run into. I _am_ going to need their help with Stryker. I mean I don't have the Scooby's to back me up this time.

Something inside me freezes up for a moment at that thought. _~ Will I ever see them again? Dawn? Giles? God I really wish they were here right now.~ _

"Oh we have _got_ to introduce her to Richard." Jason grins at Anita, like being throttled is an everyday thing for him. Then again, maybe it is. 

"Who's Richard?" I ask him.

"My ex boyfriend." Anita answers, somewhat reluctantly. "He tends to have an overdeveloped guilt response too."

_~Too?~_ "What do you mean, too?" I glare at her. "I don't have an overdeveloped anything. It's just that with my kind of strength I have to be careful around normal people."

Anita raises an eyebrow at that and trades glances Jason. "Fine Buffy, whatever you say." Then she gives me this smirk, like she knows something I don't.

"ma petite, Mademoiselle Summers. Please, it will be dawn in just over an hour and there is much to see to before then." Jean-Claude interjects, "We need to be going." 

"Fine." I glare at Anita.

"Fine." She glares right back at me then turns to climb into the limo. 

_~Oh I can tell this is going to be such a fun sleep over. Not!~_

"Miss Summers?"

Turning at the sound of my name I find myself face to face with Asher. Gulp! _~He's really got the most amazing_ _eyes.~_ The pale icy blue you see in Huskies. _~Not that he's a dog, nothing doggy about him. Nah uh, No sirry.~ _And his hair. It's gold. I mean it's _really_ gold. It's got to be a vamp thing cause I've never seen a color like that outside of…well…uhm…actually I've never seen anything with that hair color. And even with those scars he's a hottie. If I didn't already have a vampire of my own I'd almost want to hang around to till they finish healing up just to get a look at him.

_~Hold on a second. Vampire of my own?? I don't have a vampire of my own anymore!_~ I broke it off already, it's over. I mean besides the whole *me Slayer, you Vampire* mortal enemy thing, I couldn't just keep on using him like I was. Never mind that he was the only one that didn't expect me to be the same old Buffy after I came back. Or that he knows how good ice feels on the back of my neck when I have a headache. And that he's been practically the only one to get me to grin and really mean it lately. Or how hot he looks without…clothes…on…. 

_~Grrrr!! Bad brain, bad, bad brain. There'll be _no_ thoughts about naked…nope forget it. Not even gonna think his name.~ _

Asher's still standing in front of me waiting, head tilted slightly. Ok Buff, pull it together. "Uh, yeah?"_~Uh, yeah?? Sheesh Buff could you be anymore lame.~_

"I am going on ahead to The Circus to…get the ball rolling, I believe the phrase is. I just wanted to tell you it has been a…unique…pleasure to meet you. And that I hope we have an chance to meet again." Then he holds his hand out to me. _~Ookay, he wants to shake hands, guess it couldn't hurt.~_  So I put my hand in his. But instead of shaking it he clasps it between both of his then raises it to his lips and places a feather soft kiss on the back. Double gulp!!__

"Au revoir, Miss Summers." Then he's gone and I'm left standing, staring after him.

"Buffy! Time to go." I turn dazed eyes to Anita as she leans out of the limo door. She and the others had gotten in while I was talking to Asher.

"He flew" I can hear my voice going all squeaky "he flies?" 

"Yup" Anita grins at me.

"You guys fly?" My voice rising I look past her to stare at Jean-Claude, even as I climb into the limo with them. "Why didn't somebody tell me these guys fly?!?!" _~Oh I am _so_ not happy.~ _I settle myself on a seat across from him as Jean-Claude leans back next to Anita and the driver close's the door.

"I take it _your_ guys don't fly?" Anita asks me, looking just a bit smug. 

I give a snort, "Not unless I throw them off a roof. Then it's a real short flight, not to mention the whole splat thing when they land. Gets kinda a messy."

"To answer your question Mademoiselle Summers." Jean-Claude begins.

Mademoiselle? "Just call me Buffy Ok?"

He smiles and gives a slight nod. "As you wish, Buffy. To answer your questions; yes Asher flies, I however do not."

"Huh, why not?"

Anita decides to take this one. "Both Jean-Claude and Asher are master vampires. Master vampires as they grow older can and will acquire a variety of powers. But they won't necessarily gain the same ones. So Asher flies and Jean-Claude doesn't."

"hmmm" I turn back to Jean-Claude. "So what do you do that he doesn't?"

He smiles at me. "Oh many things."

_~Whoa!! What the hell was that?~_ As he'd spoke I swear I could _feel_ his voice, like a hand trailing down my spine. "What did you just do??"

"He can use his voice to *touch* you." Anita gives him a sideways exasperated glance. 

"Yeah, well" I give him a sour look of my own "don't do that again. You just might find your ass staked to a wall."

Anita's head snaps back around to glare at me. _~Guess she doesn't like someone threatening one of her vampires.~_

"Buffy, is something wrong with your hands?" Jean-Claude's voice interrupts our staring contest.

"Huh?" I'm just _so_ witty this evening. Morning…evening?? God I need to get some sleep.

He lowers his eyes and nods his chin. Glancing down, I look at my hands. I didn't even realize that I had been rubbing them together. 

"Oh it's nothing, the right one just feels kind of tingly." I mean it's not everyday that I have a vampire kiss my hand.

_~Wait a second. It's my right hand that's tingling, but Asher kissed my _left_ hand.~_

Frowning I hold up my right hand and look at it, turning it this way and that. Then I look at Jason, who's been quiet this whole time, then back at my hand. Then back to Jason again.

"Ok, what are you?"

And he grins then tries to make with the wide-eyed, innocent *who me* look.

Nice try fella, but you've got nothing on Dawn. "Yeah you. What are you?" 

"He's a were-wolf." Anita answers me.

"Oh, ok. Cool." So he's a were-wolf. Funny, Oz never made me tingle. Hmm, wonder if he ever made Wils tingle? _~Oh jeeze, Buffy don't _even_ go there.~_

Jason leans towards me slightly. "That doesn't bother you?"

I shrug my shoulder, "That you're all wolfy? Not unless you go around eating people." Then I frown, "you don't do you…go around eating people I mean?"

He grins at me. "No, not recently." 

Not being sure if he's joking I give him my best squinty glare. Then I go and ruin it by yawning. Stifling another I scooch back into my corner of the limo.

"I hope nobody minds but I'm just going to close my eyes for a little while."

Jean-Claude nods and smile, "I'm sure Anita will wake you when you finally arrive at her house."

Wake me? "Oh I'm not planning on sleeping. I just want to rest my eyes for a minute." 

"Of course not." Now why don't I think he believes me? Oh well, that's his problem.

Closing my eyes and snuggling into the seat cushions and wishing I had Mr Gordo, I _really_ don't have any intentions of sleeping. Jean-Claude may be all soulful and non-demony but he is a vamp and a master vamp at that. Not exactly something to make a Slayer feel all safe and warm. But listening to the low murmurs of them talking and the gentle sway of the limo driving down the road must have put me out because the next thing I'm conscious of is hearing Anita and another voice I don't remember, discussing how to wake me up.

"Well we have to get her out of there somehow?" 

Anita sounds like she's getting impatient.

"Why don't I just carry her inside?" 

Him I don't know.

"Nathaniel, I told what she did to Jason."

Yep impatient, I had that one pegged right.

"Well we could just stand back and throw pebbles at her."

Now who's that? _~Hey! Throw _pebbles_ at her?!?!~_ I don't think so.

"nah, s'okay. 'um awake." Sort of anyway, can't guarantee for how long though.

I pry my eyes open and start to climb out of the limo. Looking out through sleep blurry eyes I see Anita and two other figures watching me.

"Do you need some help." 

Help? "jus' make sure I don't run into any walls, ok?"

The next few minutes is a collage of scenes; stumbling up some porch steps and into a house. Hands on my shoulders carefully steering my around furniture and I think, some people. Finally a hallway and then I enter a dark room and something bumps into my knees. Reaching down I feel the springy softness of a bed. Collapsing onto it I feel someone remove my shoes and flip the bedspread over me. A voice says something about waking me but I'm asleep before they finish. 

I don't know how much time has passed when something wakes me, a sound maybe. Sometime in between first falling on the bed and waking up I had managed to kick off my slacks and burrow under the covers. From that cozy nest I open my eyes and look through a tangle of hair. About four feet from the bed I see a young guy, looks around 18 maybe. _~ugh! When did 18 start sounding young to me? I mean I'm only 21 my self.~ _He's laying something on a chair next to the nightstand. I don't make a sound but suddenly he goes still before slowly turning to look at me. __

"Hi," soft and low, like he's trying not to startle me "did you sleep well?" I just blink at him.

"Jason is supposed to be bringing over some cloths for you, but he's not here yet." He motions to the chair, "So I brought you some clean sweats and a shirt of Anita's. She says Dolph will probably be calling soon so you might want to be awake for that." He raises a hand, pointing to a point behind me. "There's a bathroom through there if you want a shower."

I continue to study him, not saying anything and he sighs. "Are you hungry? I can fix you something to eat." 

My stomach chooses that moment to growl. Loudly! That earns me a smile.

"Ok, food it is." And turns toward the door. 

"coffee?" My question stops him with his hand on the knob.

"Coffee? We can do coffee." He nods to me.

"mocha?" 

"Mocha? Latte?" He frowns slightly and I nod.

He smiles again; he's got a nice smile, not to mention pretty eyes. Violet. "Anita pretty much likes plain old coffee with creamer but some of us like espresso so we can do lattes too." 

He turns back around, "Come out when you're ready." Then he leaves, the door clicking softly behind him.


End file.
